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2014/05/21

Tonaskets Founders Day parade and celebration occurs annually on Memorial Day weekend. This year I have decked our shop windows with family heirloom quilts.

The first pic shows the red and white quilt, which has a gazillion little holes in it. Apparently my great, great grandmother got a brand new mattress to put on the old springs of her bed. That new mattress cost hard cash and she wanted to protect it from the springs (this is way before box springs!), so she placed this 'old quilt between the springs and mattress to protect the mattress! Holey or not, I love this quilt and its story...

The second quilt is a wonderful 30's quilt top find by my Grandmother. She had it quilted by the 'church ladies', then gifted it to me. I put the binding on it and embroidered its little history on a corner. Pristine condition and colors. Love it!

The third inheritance is made up of scrappy Lone Stars. The loveliest thing about this quilt is the quantity and quality of the quilting. Tons of it! In a torn space I could pick at the batting a bit and I am guessing from the fiber I plucked out and the consistency of the batt, that it is wool that has been washed and literally put through the wringer. Aren't old quilts fun? :?}

2013/09/02

August 2013 has come and gone? I had no idea setting up a 1200 sq. ft. shop would take a month-and more! Here are pix of the latest progress. And, ready or not, Bell, Hook and Spindle will officially, quietly, open its door this coming Saturday, September 7th! Please excuse the remaining clutter, and perhaps a slight gap or two in stock. I will receive two large orders in the shop tomorrow, and have yet to finalize one more 'biggie' order for the Quilting side of the store.
In honor of opening, The Charlotte Connection Spinners will come and christen the comfy seating area. They are bringing 'goodies' to snack on and I am providing my famous 5 gallons of ice tea. I may try my hand at the bloomin' tea as well, for my mentor/friend Joann (who used to own a bakery) is bringing a selection of 3 tea cookies, one of which, she told me, is lemon flavored. I might be too busy munching to actually spin?
So, if you have plans to come and see Bell, Hook and Spindle, this Saturday would be a taste of what we will soon be. If you want to wait until I know how to run the till, serve the tea, all the shelves are stocked, and the quilting machine is up and running, wait until mid-October when we will be Grand Opening celebrating with open house, catered snacks, sales and specials. If you would like to be notified by email, just send me your info and I will be sure and let you know a couple weeks beforehand, when we set the date.
Send email to: weber.lindy@gmail.com

Cascade Yarn is loaded in the bins.

Rick, since this pic, has the top on the check out counter. We will finish by tomorrow!

Class offerings will be on the wall with date and cost. There will Block of the Month activity as well.
Hope you visit soon!

2013/08/12

Progress on the shop refurbishing is coming right along-but not at nearly the pace I had in mind. Still, today I will finish up the vault re-paint and move on to the back room and the painting of those walls. The back room will be Rick's wood working shop. We will wait to do the floors, to match the main shop floors, until the very end of the setup program so it will be in good shape for open house.
Meanwhile, everything that was crammed back there has come out into the main shop. The sheer mass of stuff that was crammed in back there!

Some people have seen the shop space empty and asked how in the world we would fill it all up...

I can tell them, "No problem!"

And there is still a mid-arm quilting machine to place near the back wall...on its 8 foot table! And don't forget the check out counter, desk, couch, two chairs, two rockers, tea vanity...

And this is my resting/pricing station. Isn't the floor great! Meanwhile, 'back at the home place'.

Rick has been producing the pieces and parts that make up the shelving units we will use.
My job is to stain it all!

This is the ellipse Rick has cut and painted for the huge Bell, Hook and Spindle sign that will hang up high above the building. We want people to be able to find us!

Next in line to be fabricated are my 'ladders'. Yardage will hang from them. I will take pix when they are complete and loaded. It will make more sense once you see it.
So, the saga continues and I hope we live to tell about it!

2013/08/08

This lovely old building is the perfect architectural fit for the flavor of Bell, Hook and Spindle, with its copper clad windows and literal brick and mortar! The huge 'brown thing' across the front of the building is all uncleaned copper. The scores of small squares at the top of the picture are 4", all original, all copper-clad panes of glass. This building must have been quite a beauty in its day.

This shows the progress of painting away the powder blue walls into the 'egg wash' white Rick chose. There are several stories floating about town about why there is a vault in the store, but all seem to agree there never has been a bank in this building. My aunt and uncle owned this building for a while and told me the vault had been used as a bedroom, an office, storage, and possibly as a vault when there was a jewelry store here. I think Hidden Talents had the best and most innovative use for the vault as an art gallery. Bell, Hook and Spindle will house some art, the spinning wheels, looms and antique wood working tools for sale.

As you can tell, the ceiling was in dire need of freshening!

And we neutralized everything else.

Until we got to the floor...

What fun I had with the paint and sprinkles!

So, things are progressing! By this weekend we hope to begin putting together all the shelving units Rick has been building. Then all things from the back room version of Bell, Hook and Spindle, and everything crammed into the vault will be brought into the clean, new space. Then the ceiling/walls/flooring refurbishing will be repeated in the back room and a little in the vault. So far we've come. So far to go! But I am still working hard to make a September Grand Re-opening! Wish us luck!

2013/07/23

Stock is flooding in! We love the sound of the UPS, FedEx and USPS vehicles pulling into our driveway...

I made Meg Hawkey's Winter Wonderland in blues several years back. It is an incredibly beautiful quilt pattern!

I might have to make a sample of Snow Flurries as well, don't you think? :?}

I am in awe of shop owners that carry a broad selection of totally varied fabric styles. I want to shop for what I like/love! I know I will have to get beyond that... so, what style of fabric do you buy most often?

About Me

I have enjoyed many seasons in life; whether joyous or sad, beautiful or frightening, I have been shaped by the journey. Some portions of the path I would not have chosen of my own free will, but I would not trade the resulting growth toward who I am today. I am daughter, mother, grandmother, wife, friend, grownup and child. The world delights me every day in some minute or grand way.